Meanwhile Elisbabeth and the children took the horse tramway to the city. The rails took some corners behind the imperial stables and passed the yet unfinished museums. The brick layers were still busy with finishing the walls of the twin sisters. On the ground, women mixed large quantities of plaster, others carried bricks up to the men.

Then, the streets made way for the large boulevard which encicled the old city of Vienna. It was the widest street Elisabeth had every seen. It was full of horses and coaches and people who just walked or hurried up and down the street. All the trees had fresh green leaves. The chestnuts sprouted their large white blossoms and in the parks all kinds of flowers poked their heads out of the ground. Decades ago the old bastions were still standing at this place. Now the boulevard and the surrounding sites was probably the most important building project of the country.

While the palace of justice still needed finishing touches on it's Renaissance columns, while the greek council of the empire was already in use for quite some time. The Gothic spire of the city hall already reached high in the sky while the university and the new theatre of the court were still buzzing with workers. Further up the road they passed the Ringtheater and the stock exchange building. And of course there were also privately owned properties for those who could afford them. Building here was a luxury and you wanted to be sure others looked at your building and saw how much money you had.